The next G3
is Thursday - Sunday, March 16-19, 2006, Mobile, AL.

The talks will take place at the University of South Alabama (USA!).
Here is a map showing the Mathematics Department and the hotel map where you can also see the location
of the university.
The talks will begin in the morning on Thursday and end by noon on Sunday.
As usual, we will start with a few educational talks.
Those are oriented toward students, non-experts, general audience.

Conference organizers: Stephen Brick, Craig Jensen, Igor Mineyev.

Let us know
if you expect attending the conference.
(Acceptable answers: "yes", "maybe", or "coming with probability ...".)

We are looking for people with digital cameras
to take pictures during the conference.

We would also like to take a picture of "the G3 team",
so if you have a G3 sweatshirt, don't hesitate to bring it.

Hotel.

A block of rooms is reserved at
Homewood Suites Hotel.
They have spacious suites (not just rooms).
The suites are either
king-size or double. King-size has one king-size bed
and a sleeper, so potentially 2 people can share it.
Double has two beds and a sleeper, so potentially up to 3 people
can share it. (The double suites have two separate bedrooms with private baths.)
Here are the participants looking for someone
to share a suite with.
There is one double suite available right now, so join it before it is too late (you do not pay for the room if you join).

The group (!) rate is $89 + 14% tax per suite per night. This should apply
to Tuesday-Monday, March 14-20. Rates for other dates are higher.
Please also note that articipants can receive this rate only if
they call (251)634-8664 as soon as possible to reserve a suite,
but certainly before February 28, 2006.
Ask to talk to the manager Sharon Priester, she is handling reservations
for this conference.
Please mention the group name: USA Geometric conference,
this is what they call it at the hotel.
You will be asked to provide a credit card number.
If you make reservations after February 28, the price will be much higher,
and suites might be not available.

Breakfast (Monday-Friday 6.30-9.30am, Saturday-Sunday 7.00-10.00am)
and dinner (Monday-Thursday 5.30-7.30pm)
are included in the price.
The hotel has a minivan that can bring people from the hotel to
the university, and back. It can only take a few people at once, so
you might want to rent a car during your stay; and
if you do, please feel free to give others a ride.

Abstracts.

Our thanks to Atlas Conferences Inc. for providing the abstract
services for the conference. The abstracts and the
schedule are now available.

Current mathematical climate.

Many thanks to those who came to the G3 conference in November 2004,
despite the fact that we had to move it to Destin, Florida, after
hurricane Ivan
damaged the hotel in Pensacola Beach.
See
pictures of those brave
men and women.
Note a slight change of time and place of this conference as well.
This G3 was planned for New Orleans, LA, but this time
hurricane Katrina has not let us do that.
The hurricane season begins in June and ends in November.
Peak storm activity typically occurs from the end of August through mid-September.
We are not planning any hurricanes during the conference. Please rest assured that the next G3
will take place. Plan on coming.

Reimbursement.

The rules for reibursement at University of Illinois have changed again recently,
it seems like they become easier to deal with. Here are the
foreigh nationals payment eligibility grid and the
reimbursement
rules. The grid describes who can be reimbursed, depending on the visa
status, and the reimbursement site explains what documents
are needed. (This is a copy of the website, which is not available
where it should be available, so the links on that page do not work.)

Following our tradition,
we will try to support accommodations for students coming for
the conference. Preference will be given to those who share a suite in
Homewood Suites Hotel, see the information above. Please make arrangments
in advance.

Articles and preprints.

A special place in the conference room will be designated
for participants' articles and preprints ("poster session").
Everyone is very much encouraged to bring (multiple copies
of) their articles/preprints to discuss and to share with others.
There will be a specific
period of time set during the conference for participants
to discuss their displayed articles with others.
This is to give everyone an opportunity to present their
work. Make sure to get involved.

Sweatshirts

G3 sweatshirts are real cool.
To have an idea what it looks like, see, for example
this picture,
this picture, or
that picture.
Let us know if you would like to have one
for $13 at the conference so that we have enough supply.